Batons for use by the police and military are well known. Such batons can be of great value in close quarters or where non-lethal force is necessary or warranted.
In many cases, batons used by the police or military are compact to carry and easy to deploy. In many cases, a baton may be constructed of one or more telescoping sections including a handle and more or more sections that slide into the handle. Typically, the handle is padded and the opposing end section is weighted in order to provide balance where the baton is swung and/or when the baton is used in striking an object.
A baton may be constructed from a tube forming a handle, first by swaging one end to reduce its diameter. In a second step, the weighted or intermediate section is prepared for use with the handle by flaring one end. The baton sections are assembled by inserting the respective non-flared ends into the non-swaged end of the handle or intermediate section.
The baton may be deployed by grasping the non-swaged end of the handle and flicking the other, swaged end away from the user. The flicking causes the weighted end and any intermediate sections to be flung outwards from the handle. The extension movement from the handle stops when the flared end of the weighted end and any intermediate section encounters (and locks into) the swaged end of the handle.
The baton may be stowed by grasping the handle and striking the tip of the weighted end axially on a hard surface to dislodge the flared end from the swaged end and to allow the telescoping to be reversed. However, it is often difficult to stow a baton once it has been deployed. In some cases, the tip may need to be struck against the hard surface several times to dislodge the swaged end from the flared ends.
In many cases, it is inconvenient for a police officer or soldier to stow a deployed baton. For example, if a suspect flees, the officer or soldier may not have time to find a hard surface to strike the end against. Alternatively, the noise of striking of the baton against a hard surface may alert other suspects in the area to the presence of police or military personnel. Accordingly, a need exists for better methods of constructing and using batons.